This Looks Yummy!

Here's a gluten-free recipe that looks fabulous! Check out this Carrot/Pineapple Salad at Hearts In Training. I'll be trying this salad for sure! It also looks like it could be tweeked to include a few extra things. For starters, I'm thinking of adding raisins. Thank you, Loni.

First Things First

One of the joys of homeschooling is also one of the greatest responsibilities; raising our children in the love, joy, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. I humbly admit that one of the things I seem to set aside, to attend to what I call our Core Subjects, is Bible.

Even though I have a subject header in my planner for Bible, it is more than a subject. For a Christian, the Bible and our living relationship with Jesus Christ is our foundation. By neglecting Bible I am teaching my children, indirectly, that it's "words on a page", and not The Living Word. As I said, I'm inadvertantly doing so. Does this neglect support my core value of raising my Children in the Lord? No. Rather than bend and yield family values to the pressure of the clock that is in sight, I remind myself that God's word, and having a living relationship with Jesus Christ, IS by far, the most important thing I can teach my children.

So, by God's grace, our school day began at 10:15, and I have to say that we had a most wonderful time recalling the story of Joseph. The passages in Genesis 37 & Genesis 45 provided the backdrop of a great lesson on forgiveness. God gave me a wonderful example of demonstrating forgiveness and unforgiveness. We had an empty laundry basket (a modern day miracle) which the kids had fun lifting up, up,up, and over their heads. Then, we piled in Danny's work bag - a nice, cube-shaped monstrosity, and a few other items such as a Windex bottle and a Star Wars light saber. Some items (offenses) were small, and some were HUGE. When they picked up the laundry basket, well, there was no more up, up, UP, because they couldn't carry it. I explained that God didn't design us to carry those offenses. Their faces lit up as they enjoyed their own understanding of the object lesson.

Then we had an activity where we drew a picture of a cross, wrote in our sins that we remembered, and then we colored over them nice and DARK so that they couldn't be seen, just as Jesus covered OUR sins on the cross. Then next to the cross, we drew a heart, and wrote something in it that we needed to forgive someone for, and then also colored over it with a dark color . That demonstrated our forgiveness of that person as Christ in God has forgiven us (Eph. 4:32). What a wonderful time we had. And now on to Math & Language Arts.

Whether or not we were homeschooling, a growing understanding of God's word & having a living relationship with Jesus Christ is more important than anything else we could attend to. How often do we allow the clock to dictate our priorities, rather than a God who made us for relationship with Him. In summary: guilty, but redeemed. Missing the mark, but continually refocusing my vision.

Don't Ever Link to This Post!

Before you read further, allow me to caution those with weak stomachs. The pictures are graphic. They're personal. They're plum pathetic. That said, it took me 30 minutes to upload the photos from my phone, so I'd appreciate atleast a glance.

These pictures could be mistaken for aerial photos of a tornado, but ladies, they merely reflect the contents of my purse. You're not going to believe what was in there, and I promise, there is a good explanation for the dogfood. So, here's my list:

9 tubes of lipstick/lipgloss (That's the pathetic part!)
1 tube of concealer
1 brow pencil
1 lip liner
1 Tube of Mascara
1 compact
1 hand lotion
1 body spray
1 pocketpac Antibacterial Hand Gel
3 cross necklaces (gifts for me and the children)
1 pair of earrings
1 broken necklace
1 miniature can of V8 Juice
1 small flashlight
1 highlighter
2 pencils
5 empty communion cups (we like to use these to simulate the sounds of a visit to your local chiropracter!)
1 CD
1 box of toothpicks
1 set of Danny's missing keys (sorry, honey!)
1 lense from a broken pair of sunglasses
4 perfectly fine pair of sunglasses
Probably 15 or so crumpled receipts
Dental floss (not used yet)
Dogfood (we try to keep healthy snacks around)
and of course, a tube of ibuprophen.

Can you believe it?  (I promise it's not usually this bad!)

The dogfood made a memorable impression when it exposed itself during a recent check out at a local Barnes and Noble location. Call it: camping, selling a  home, homeschooling, etc. Call it an emergency. Does the President know about this?

The Great Detective Agency

I wish you could be in my house right now.  Detective Bethany and Detective Daniel are hard at work on their first official case. There's whispering, secret meetings in the hallway near the pantry. Case: To find the source of the clattering of pans we heard while homeschooling this afternoon.


So, how does one become a detective in the Great Detective Agency? Well, you have to have a case first. Then, you have to have a sister who is very very curious, or someone who is curious, and that someone may be YOU! Do you have a notebook? You know, a place where you record your classified, whispered information? You have to have one. And, if you do not, then perhaps that other curious someone will make one for you. What a lucky fella that Detective Daniel is!


Make sure you write the name of your agency at the top of your paper. And here's how that conversation went: "Bethany, how do you spell detective?" They talk, he writes. Detective D did his dead level best, and at that Bethany says in her nicest tone (that is almost all of them, by the way), "No offense, but your handwriting is not very neat!" Daniel aptly replies, "No matter how you say it, that can be offensive!" So, it is agreed that Detective B will record the title in Caps, I might add, at the top of the page.


So there's a rustling of denim on the tile floor, "And how do you spell cabinet?", quiet in the house, the sound of pencils listing things on paper, notebooks scooting, and the investigation continues. Will they find the source of that noise, "How do you spell fridge?" (at this point I can't help correcting that one word!).


May I please stop the hand of time here and now? I am loving this moment.

Fun Stuff!

It's been awhile since I've posted: Camera batteries that need charging, a house on the market and keeping it clean while lived in, making up for lost school days, and then of course sleeping, eating, and breathing!

There's always time to browse a website or two, and of course, I love browsing Homeschooling websites. A grammar curriculum I am intrigued by happened to post this list of funnies, and so, I pass them on to you. Enjoy, be blessed, and let us remain prayerful for one another. Much love!

KATHY

JUST FOR FUN
The English language is full of ambiguities that can lend themselves to humorous interpretations. What follows are a number of questions with some clever twists. Enjoy.


If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?

Can an atheist get insurance against acts of God?

If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

If a turtle lacks a shell, is it homeless or naked?

Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

Where do forest rangers go to get away from it all?

If a parsley farmer is sued, do they garnish his wages?

Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?

How is it possible to have a civil war?

Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machine?

If you ate both pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?

What if there were no hypothetical questions?

On Worship: Kathryn Scott

If you're looking for a wonderful worship album, try to put your hands on Kathryn Scott's I Belong. The title song was co-written with her mother which I see as a wonderful tribute to a Godly heritage.

To my joy, I had the honor of writing a worship chorus with Bethany when she was about five. I'll never forget the day when she said, "Mom, play something so I can sing." And as she begun to sing a beautiful melody and lyrics came. Tune in again for those sweet lyrics! : )

About Tonight

Tonight, I attended, along with my two children, a benefit concert of Praise and Giving for Sojourner Center. Sojourner Center is an organization which reaches out to help victims of domestic violence.I took my two children because their Daddy was gone flying, and this was one of those times they had to go with me. It was held at our church, and in support of Sojourner Center and my worship leading friends who were at the helm, I knew we were to attend.

It dawned on me as we were waiting for the event to begin, that I had never talked to the children about the difficult topic of domestic violence. For some it's not a topic, it's a lifestyle. Lord, how can I say this? How can I explain this to bring understanding yet diffuse fear? I love how God makes room for Himself in a child's heart. When He fills that place in them, the enemy cannot. Tonight, over the course of about an hour, my Heavenly Father did a beautiful job of keeping the heart and mind of my children filled with His presence. Daniel sat on my knee as we clapped and bounced to the music. Bethany's mind had begun to think about my explanation ("It's when someone in the house is dangerous to others they live with."  "What do you mean, Mom?"  "I mean, they might want to physically hurt someone in their home." "Oh." she said.)

We stayed for an hour, but with tomorrow coming soon, and the night growing late, we left. As we pulled out of the parking lot, Bethany said, "I have never been so thankful for my family." "What?" I asked, as I wanted to inquire further. She then repeated it. I had to ask what prompted this statement. Then she said, " I am so thankful for my Mom and Dad, and that I was not born into a dangerous family." If I could somehow find words to describe the sound of her voice; the gratitude and the portion of sorrow gracefully mixed together, you might be able to get just a taste of what I received. Her deepest thanks quietly spoken punctuated by her  deeper understanding of the world she has been born into. " God sure has been good to us." she said with relief.

I would've loved to have never mentioned this horrible plight to her. I would've loved to have had her mind free from ever having to understand why we were there. I have to say that tonight after we came home a bit of fear did show up in her heart, so I expect I have more work to do, more to pray with and over, and to help her sing a song of thanksgiving and victory to her Lord. To fill the air with sounds of praise and shouts of joy even, for what Jesus has done on the cross.(I've even wondered about my choice to take them....it just never dawned on me, so Lord, help us with this.)   I'll explain to her again that Jesus can be  a shelter even for those who don't know how to call on His name, especially a helpless child. This is but one of many topics that requires His wisdom. Praying now in advance for His help and His hedge and tower about my children as they learn the truth of a wayward world.